One of the perks about going to my women’s college is that it is full of so many traditions and values that other institutions just do not have. From throwing your best friend in the fountain after she has met the one to spitting the friendship pole, Brenau does a very good job at bringing sisterhood together. Instead of us bashing one another, we bring each other up with smiles and a shoulder to lean on. At this school, you really get to imagine your own crown and this allows you to be a queen all four years you’re here. That is what I love about Brenau.
A few weeks ago was another one of our famous traditions that the outside world just cannot understand. As I posted my pictures on IG from May Day in my white dress and my crown all I got was “wow really you didn’t invite me to the wedding” and “Congratulations you are going to make a great wife!” I just rolled my eyes as I kindly said no and then I would get “well what was it for”
“May Day”
“May who..??”
May Day, the day that you get to move up on the crow’s nest as underclassmen and as senior you become an alumna. May Day, where old friends and Brenau women spread across campus hugging sisters that they haven’t seen in months. May Day, where if it rains it pours but it doesn’t stop a good time. This year I had the opportunity to experience May Day from a different perspective. Not only was I a senior, but I was also the May queen. It was a very exciting day. My family came, friends cheered, and I absolutely felt like the most beautiful women in the entire world (right behind Beyoncé of course). I was overwhelmed but I notice something important. As the crown was placed on my head, I looked in the crowd at all my Brenau women and I notice that we all have crowns. It was in that moment that I noticed the true power of being a Brenau woman.
It was as if I had a blindfold on and someone pulled it off (no bird box mess) and as the blindfold came off everyone was wearing a crown. All around the room, I saw these women of pure gold that have been under pressure for the x amount of years they have been a Brenau. They have been balancing athleticism and academics. They have spent late nights and early morning perfecting their craft. They have cried but kept pushing. They have fallen but gotten back up. They are mothers, sisters, wives, friends, and warriors. They are all queens. A crown does not define your royalty. A crown does not give you the power to tear anyone else down. It gives you the power to take yours off and hand it to the woman next to you who may need a little push.
Brenau may have some weird traditions and some creepy ghost stories but man we also have some bomb women. They have sent women into the real world who know how to stand up and speak up. Not only when spoken too, but when something is not right. I hear all my Brenau women loud and clear. So yes, May Day was a few weeks ago. No, I did not get married, but I definitely felt the love from all my Brenau sisters who wear the crown too.
Gloria Clark